The King’s E-Lab Social Venture Residential reinforces a fundamental insight: meaningful progress in entrepreneurship, particularly social entrepreneurship, rarely occurs in isolation. Rather, it emerges through deliberate engagement, critical exchange, and exposure to diverse ways of thinking. In this week’s blog, read this and other learnings from Mendos Fidelis’s as he reflects on the critical tools of entrepreneurial thinking and the ethical responsibility of entrepreneurs.

In the middle of January, the E-Lab hosted its 2026 Social Venture Residential Programme in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme and the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation. Designed to support students of all disciplines in developing sustainable and ethical projects with a positive social and environmental impact, the SVR aims to equip those with a passion for change with key entrepreneurial skills. In this week’s blog, read Mphil student Damilola Oyeyemi’s reflections on the residential and on the mindset shifts it created for her.

This month the E-Lab hosted its Social Ventures Residential for the second year, bringing together 41 scholars from across the University of Cambridge to engage on the meaning and the purpose of social innovation and entrepreneurship. In collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme and the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation, the residential is an intensive three-day programme designed to equip students with a solid grounding and an array of tools with which to pursue their interest in social ventures. One of the scholars, Maureen Abel, reflects on her experience in this week’s blog.

The Social Venture Residential was all about using business smarts to solve real-world problems. It opened my eyes to the potential to create a sustainable cycle of empowerment and health, all through a simple, yet innovative business model and it allowed me to develop my idea for tackling period poverty. For me, it’s more than just a business idea now; it's a mission.